My Peace City | nonviolence & social change

I went to a town hall meeting in suburban New Orleans recently.  It was sponsored by Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter.  I think I was the only one of the roughly 500 people in the building in favor of a public option.  Yet, it seemed to me that about least 75% of the people in the room were already part of a public or government plan, whether as veterans or as Medicare recipients.  At one point, a member of the audience made the point that as a veteran he had earned his benefits.  Why do we have to “earn” health care benefits in America?  We don’t have to earn our right to education.

This is the what I got from the attendees.  They hate Nancy Pelosi.  They love Fox News.  They hate the idea of a government plan.  They hate that the 3 different health care bills are extremely long.  They hate Acorn. They hate the idea of giving health care benefits to illegal immigrants.  They hate the idea of women having abortions while under a government health care plan.  They don’t have an interest in extending the health care benefits to others because they already have government benefits and don’t want anyone else to have those benefits.  Why have they earned the right to government health care by living to 65 or fighting in an empire building war?

We need a public option.  It’s the only sure way to bring down health care costs, by making insurance companies compete with a cheaper option. We all deserve the right to quality, affordable health care.  We are the richest country in the world, we can find a way to pay for the public option.  We always seem to find a way to pay for our wars.  We cannot let the people who are already enjoying government health care prevent others from receiving it.